(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical fiber sheet comprising a number of optical fibers arranged and gathered in a plane and bonded and fixed with an adhesive and also to a method and apparatus for continuously fabricating this sheet.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A sheet comprising a number of optical fibers arranged and gathered in a plane can be widely used as a two-dimensional information medium and a product formed by laminating both the ends of this sheet with a high precision can be widely used as a three-dimensional information medium. In this sheet-like article, the optical fibers should be arranged in a plane so that adjacent fibers are substantially contacted with one another (this state will be called "closest state"). As the conventional means for increasing the arrangement density of optical fibers, there can be mentioned a method using a warper used in the weaving process and a method for applying an adhesive by a sizing machine or a roll coater.
When only a reed of a warper is used as the arrangement means according to the conventional technique, sufficient increase of the arrangement density cannot be attained, and if it is intended to forcibly increase the arrangement density, there arises a risk of damaging the fibers. Furthermore, the above-mentioned conventional adhesive-applying technique is not preferred because the order of arranged fibers is readily disturbed.